Oxford English Dictionary

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Idioms from Plants

Eustacia always wanted her life to be a bed of roses. She wanted everything to be easy and comfortable. But when she had a choice or decision to make, she could not do it. When you asked her what she was going to do, she always beat around the bush. She never gave a direct answer. And when she did decide something, she usually made a mistake. She was always barking up the wrong tree. So, she decided to turn over a new leaf and change her life. But when she finally made up her mind to change, she couldn't decide what to do. That was the last straw. She realized that she would never change. In a nutshell, if you want to describe Eustacia, you could say that she isin't good at making decisions.

a bed of roses - a comfortable, easy situationbeat around the bush - to waste time by not giving a direct answerbarking up the wrong tree - to make the wrong choice and waste one's effortsto turn over a new leaf - to start over again, to start a new and better lifethe last straw - the final thing after a series of bad things, the thing that finally makes you angryIn a nutshell - in a few words